Chapter 3

Chris woke up in the morning, his head still aching and feeling dizzy. He sat up and saw Gordie brushing his teeth.

"What happened, man?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"You got drunk last night and you spilled to me all your secrets." Gordie said, and went out of the bathroom.

"I did? How much have you heard?"

"A lot." Gordie said. And Chris looked down, disappointed. "It's okay, man. I understand what you're going through."

"You do?"

"Yeah, and you just need to be man enough to face it."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Yeah, and this time, you should talk to her and sort things out like a man!"

"Yeah, and we'll be together again!" Chris said, and stood bravely. He was now planning to being back again with Penny.

Penny was hanging out with Johnny, her older brother in his car while after cleaning it, and having some soda.

"What happened to you?" Penny asked him.

"It's hard not seeing Heather." He said, and sipped from his Dr. Pepper soda.

"I see. Chris and I are on a time out." She said.

"I knew that would happen to you two." Johnny said.

"Great, you knew this all along." Penny said, expecting him to have told her earlier.

"So, what happened to your date with Stanley?" he asked, changing the subject. "I have to tell you, just because you are on a time out, doesn't mean that you can cheat on him."

"That wasn't a date! And I wasn't cheating on him!" she protested, and spat some soda from her mouth on the street.

"Well, whatever. I heard that Stan had been telling everyone about it." Johnny said. "He's getting pretty annoying."

"Well, try to stop him. I know he'll follow you." Penny said, irritated.

*---*

Monday came, and Penny had to face another challenge. She realized that time moved so fast and graduation comes. But she had to fix things with Chris. She thought about talking to him, she turned around to find him but a guy blocked her.

"Good morning, Penny." Stan greeted her. He looked different today. He wore brand new Adidas warm-ups, cross trainers, and a matching jacket. His hair was always jet black and messy.

"Hi, Stan. How's it going?" She greeted him, dully.

"I'm great. Hey, do you wanna-" he said, but Penny wasn't listening to him. She was looking around for Chris but she lost him.

"Stan, I'll talk to you later." She said.

"Wanna hang out with me?" he said, quickly, blocking her.

"But we just played last Friday."

"Yeah, I know. But, don't you wanna play again?"

"Well…" she thought. Though, she considered it fun to hang out with Stan since he was good in playing like her and he's really funny, especially last Friday. But just as friends, she thought. "Sure."

"Great. See you later!" he said, turning red and walked away.

*---*

"Are you ready to do this, man?" Gordie asked, sounding like a football coach.

"Yeah!" Chris replied. He planned to ask Penny after school and hang out with her and his friends after that.

"Do you even know where she is?" Gordie asked.

"No, but I think I'll find her." Chris said.

"Well, good luck with whatever happens." Gordie said, as Chris left the hallway to find Penny. She was on the field, playing with Stan, while her friends were watching her from the bleachers. Chris heard someone yelling and playing and he couldn't help but check out who it was. He looked from a distance and his heart sank. Penny was playing with Stan and about to kick a ball to him. He just quickly gave up and walked away, angrily.

"Was that Chris?" Roma observed from afar. Jadey looked up and saw Chris, in his faded jeans, and blue buttoned up shirt.

"Yeah, it is. And he looks mad. Do you think he saw Penny and Stan?" Jadey asked.

"Yeah, maybe. He was looking at their direction. We should tell Penny."

"I don't know, Roma. What if she gets mad?" Jadey said.

"No, she won't. Maybe Chris will be, but, she could just explain."

"Yeah, you're right. They're almost done playing, I think."

Stan and Penny were laughing after the game, as he was almost hit by the ball.

"That was fun, Pen." Stan said, and placed his arm around Penny's shoulder. Penny felt awkward and shrugged his arm off by walking faster.

"Yeah, well, thanks, Stan." She said, and smiled. "I should go. See you later."

"Yeah, me too." He said, and tapped her shoulder. They both walked in different directions as Stan had to return the ball and Penny approached her friends.

"Hey, guys. We're done." She said, while climbing up the bleachers.

"Well, good. 'Cause you need to explain it to him." Roma said, packing her stuff.

"What do you mean? Who's him?" Penny asked.

"We saw Chris. And we think he saw the two of you." Jadey said.

"Did he look mad?" Penny asked, nervously.

"Well, we don't know how to read him. You better catch up with him and explain." Roma said.

"Yeah, I will, thanks, bye." Penny said, and climbed down.

"Wait, before you go, you need to change." Jadey said, and handed her some clothes.

"Thanks." She said, and grabbed the clothes and climbed down the bleachers. She left for the Girls' Lockers and quickly changed her clothes. While walking down the hallways, she saw Chris leaning near the Restroom door.

"Chris, we need to talk." She said, catching up after him.

"What do you want?" he said.

"I thought that's what you want, to talk about things." She said. "And I need to explain."

"You don't have to explain anything. I don't trust you anymore." He said, and walked away.

"No, Chris. You can't say that. You don't even know what happened down there." She said, and held his arm.

"Then what happened?!" he yelled, and jerked his arm away.

"Stan was just teaching me how to play. And you know we're just friends." She explained. "Why? Are you jealous?"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. I could see the look on your face. And don't deny it, because you know I'm the only person who could read you. So, could you just tell me what's wrong?" Penny demanded.

"Okay, the truth is, I want you back." Chris said, calmly.

"You do?"

"Yes, Penny. And I know that this time, we can do better." Chris said, placing his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her to the walls. "I still trust you, Penny."

"Well, I do to." She said, and placed her hands on his cheeks and kissed him. She missed the taste of his tongue and she wanted it one more time. She felt Chris kiss her back and felt his tongue on hers. They both pulled away and grinned sheepishly.

"Wow, I haven't had that for a long time." Chris said.

"Yeah, me either." Penny said. And right now, she was happily thinking of her, back again with Chris from their time out.

"And I was planning to hang out together with the guys." Chris said, while they were walking together on the hallway, his arm around her.

"Well, sure we can. Wait, guys, as in you mean with their girlfriends?"

"Yeah, that'd be like, triple dating." He said, and smirked at Penny.

"How about Vern-o?"

"I gotta tell you, he and his girlfriend have different plans."

"Oh, so it's a plan. Triple dating tomorrow night." Penny declared. The two of them saw Teddy come out of the Math classroom looking so happy. He approached Penny and Chris and said,

"Guys, I passed!" He said, excitedly.

"Really? That's great, man. What kind of cheating technique did you use?" Chris asked, sarcastically.

"I didn't cheat, Chris. Jadey's study date worked!" he said.

"Great, man. So, to celebrate, wanna take your girlfriend tomorrow night? We're gonna have triple dating by the bar." Chris invited him.

"What do you mean 'triple dating'?" he asked.

"Penny and I are coming, so is Gordie and Roma and you with your girlfriend." Chris explained.

"Well, okay. What made you think to go back with Pen?" Teddy asked.

"Man stuff and inspirations. You don't understand." Chris said. "We'll see you tomorrow night."

"Yeah!" Teddy yelled back. He was already at the end of hallway and was about to leave.

Penny still couldn't get over the fact that she and Chris are back together. Suddenly, something popped into her mind to ask him something.

"Chris, about the other week, how did your schedule change?" she asked him.

"Well, I asked them to change my schedule." He said.

"Why?"

"Because I miss you." He said, and kissed her cheek.

"Well, I miss you too." She said.

"Don't worry, we'll take time to do all stuff we couldn't do for a long time." Chris said.

"What is that?" She asked.

"Like, you know, making out and stuff like that." He said.

"Oh, right." Penny said, hesitatingly. She was still not in the mood of making out or having sex with him. Not because she didn't want Chris. She was just curious why she didn't want to do it. Was it the fact that she didn't want him anymore? But she still did. Or maybe she's scared. But, scared about what? She won't be pregnant or anything because they're protected. There were a lot things Penny had to figure out. And she better figure it out quick since time moves faster than her. And she still had to discuss about College with Chris.